Category: Flower-rich habitats

Aims

High Burnham is a large (+300ha) arable farm. As part of the RSPB’s Axholme and Idle Farmland Bird Initiative¹ (Lincolnshire), an opportunity was identified to revert an arable field corner to a species-rich meadow. The 1.7ha field corner sits within the base of a large L-shaped arable field. Because of the clay-based soil type, the field corner lay wet so was deemed unsuitable for arable cropping hence it was left out of production for four years.

The low-lying field corner lends itself to a pastoral management and is less than 200m from Rush Furlong Meadow SSSI.

This will be the only parcel on the holding managed as grassland. It is anticipated that hay will be cut by a local contractor used by the Lincs Wildlife Trust and aftermath grazing will be carried out by a local grazier.

Management

Verbal advice and a written proposal were provided to the landowners on species-rich grassland establishment and management. The RSPB’s Hay Meadow and Arable Reversion topic sheets were used to supplement this verbal and written advice. The landowners understood the principles of grassland management through knowledge of a local grassland SSSI.

Hay strewing is a tried-and-tested method for enhancing the botanical diversity of species-poor grassland² and can also be used to create diverse grasslands on arable land³. It entails taking freshly cut ‘green hay’ from a local donor site and, on the same day, strewing (spreading) it onto a suitable receptor site. It is a cost-effective method and ensures that the received seeds are of local provenance.

Two donor sites were identified and Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust kindly donated and cut the hay from Sedge Hole Close, a damp meadow (MG4 National Vegetation Community) containing cowslip, great burnet, lesser knapweed, oxeye daisy and cuckooflower. Natural England consent would have been required for using SSSI hay.

Loading a trailer with green hay at East Lound with Matt Cox Lincs Wildlife Trust

Technical advice was followed to ensure the receptor site’s soil was suitable, through testing phosphorus (P) levels. The soil sample results showed a P Index of 1 (low) so was deemed acceptable. The farmer prepared the site by spraying off weeds using herbicide and creating a create a fine, firm and level seedbed, avoiding looseness at depth.

The site has no historical significance.

Because the donor site is an NVC MG4 vegetation community, containing abundant great burnet, we followed advice from a floodplain grazing meadow conference (attended by Helen Norford of Yorkshire Wildlife Trust) to spread the hay at reasonable depth (up to 10cm).

Once strewn, in the first year the vegetation growth should be cut up to 4 times and then the grassland should be treated as a traditional hay meadow thereafter.

Because the donor site was smaller than the receptor site (0.9 and 1.7ha respectively) we found that we had a deficit of green hay for the receptor field and a ratio of 1:1 (as recommended by Dr Duncan Westbury) would have worked better. Partners therefore plan to revisit, survey and repeat if necessary next year.

Black grass growth will also be re-sprayed off this year.

The cost of the green hay was free as it was donated by Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust.

There was a minimal fuel and labour cost incurred by the farmer transporting the two loads of green hay from the donor site to the receptor site.

Achievements

Breeding skylarks have been recorded in adjacent fields during RSPB bird surveys and breeding skylarks are also recorded at Rush Furlong SSSI so the parcels should attract skylarks. The parcel also offers potential lapwing nesting habitat, providing the additional scrape excavation works are undertaken. There are records of yellowhammers in the hedges and reed buntings nesting in the adjacent OSR crop.

Whittington Lodge Farm has predominately thin Cotswold Brash soils on 280ha, mostly over 800 feet in altitude. The cultivated half of the farm was in a continuous arable system, but average yields meant it was only marginally viable and blackgrass was creeping in.

In 2015, it was decided to undergo organic conversion on all the arable area to combine with the fully organic grassland. Herb-rich leys were introduced into the rotation to build fertility for the organic cereals. They are grazed by an existing and expanded suckler herd of native Hereford cows and calves.

The herb-rich leys contain at least 5 species of grass, 5 legumes and 5 herbs which all add to the biodiversity with varying rooting depth in the shallow soils. They are established by under-sowing in spring barley crops, broadcast with an Opico seeder/harrow once the barley plants have reached the 3 leaf stage. This way the undersown plants are still small enough not to interfere with the barley combining. Grazing can begin in the autumn.

The herb-rich ley can last for 4 years and can be grazed or conserved as hay or silage. It can fit in well with other grasslands like permanent pasture with the management of grazing livestock.

Mob grazing can help achieve the best from the leys. The cattle are moved frequently, usually daily, onto fresh grazing and a back fence stops them eating any re-growth after about 3 days. The adage is that you should not see the cattle’s knees when they go in and you should not see their ankles when they come out. Some of the herbage is eaten, some trampled and some left so that the root structure underneath the plants is maintained and re-growth is rapid.

Then, most importantly, the ley is rested for a couple of months to allow plants to flower and set seed before the next grazing. This will provide habitat for invertebrates, including crop pollinators, and improve soil structure and water infiltration.

Moving the electric fence is a daily commitment but it makes it easier to check and count the stock as they run past.

The cost of seed is significant but no nitrogen is required, and it is possible to incorporate this option into a Countryside Stewardship scheme and claim payments for it.

As the soil organic matter level is improved, more grass will be grown and stocking rates will be able to be increased. This system suits both cattle and sheep on organic and non-organic farms.

Achievements:

There are multiple benefits to herb-rich leys. When terminated, they provide an ideal entry to cereal crops for several years, organic or not. The arable weed spectrum is dramatically reduced, especially blackgrass.
Soil health and organic matters levels will have been increased with large amounts of carbon sequestered into the soil, far more than the effects of methane produced by the cattle.

The nutrient density of the beef will be greater when multiple species and biodiversity are eaten with knock-on health benefits for the cattle and consumer.

The farmland wildlife is a big winner here, with many different plants flowering producing nectar for pollinating insects and producing seed (and insects) for many bird species to eat. Skylarks nest everywhere, hares and roe deer love to graze it. Kestrels and barn owls hunt for short-tailed field voles living in the long grass and snipe are increasingly being seen looking for worms in the winter time.

It really helps to be organised and to have planned the rotational grazing before the start of the season. Access to water, ease of moving electric fences and having the cattle in the right place at the right date all have to be factored in.

This system really suits British native breeds of cattle, which can readily be managed to Pasture-for-Life standards (essentially no grain fed). Pasture-for-Life beef allows the opportunity to brand and market it yourself with a great story for a higher price than the beef commodity market can pay.

Aims:

Using options that need spring establishment can be difficult on heavy land. We wanted to find a way of providing conservation management without needing a great deal of work in the spring and without causing undue problems to the crop following it.

I grow winter wheat, winter beans and oil seed rape. Because of my heavy soils we thought this combination would be ideal for using ground for two full cropping years, allowing me to follow it with another winter established crop and avoiding the need for trying to get a crop going in the spring. I worked with Niki Williamson of the RSPB, who gives free nature-friendly farming advice in the Fens area, to design the combination.

Management:

I plant a winter wheat crop as normal, leaving a headland as a conservation headland. This receives limited fertiliser, no insecticides after 15 March, and I apply limited fungicide (only when absolutely necessary to stop crop failure). This provides insect-rich habitat all summer, helping birds like grey partridges and corn buntings. The headland is left unharvested the following autumn, so provides winter seed food as well.

From 21 March, I cultivate the headland by ploughing or discing to form a cultivated margin. Problems with working the heavy soil at this time are not so important as I am trying to create a reasonably fine fallow, but not required to create a seedbed to establish a mix or a crop.

If there is blackgrass residue once I’ve cultivated I use a herbicide to control it. That needs doing as soon as cultivation is completed, to give as long a window as possible to allow the intended weeds to grow on the plot, forming cover and food sources for wildlife.

On my land there is no rare arable flora! But the plants that do grow will flower and set seed in time for turtle doves arriving back on the farm in late April, providing a much needed food source. It also provides a fallow, weedy area for other insects and birds to use during the summer months.

From 31 July I spray off the area to clean it up and cultivate it in time to follow it with autumn sowing.

In any one year there are two areas like this on the farm, one in each option. They are rotated around the farm to keep the weed burden in check.

Achievements:

This year we followed the cultivated margin with oil seed rape and I found that this was the best bit of rape in the field. It’s cleaner because of the seedbed preparation and it’s established better because there are less slugs where there are no stubbles.

On my soils blackgrass is an issue, and would normally make things like conservation headlands and summer fallows a no-no. However this management has not increased my weed burden any worse than the rest of the farmed field. There are two opportunities to cultivate the option and bury the blackgrass, one in March and one in July. There is also nearly 2 months across August and September that can be used to germinate weeds and spray them off to create stale seed beds before drilling, giving you plenty of opportunities to address blackgrass problems.

The seed from the unharvested headlands was being depleted by pigeons and crows really early, so I had to put out deterrents to make sure it lasted further into the winter for the smaller birds we were trying to target. In the end there were still big flocks of birds in it right up until March, finding something to eat. I also have other wild bird seed mixes on the farm, which are designed to retain seed through the winter months to make sure there’s a winter-long food source.

We noted that in shaded areas, wheat tended to stay in the ear and germinate there, making it inaccessible to birds. Although it’s clearly beneficial to site it near a hedge for birds to hop in and out, I think you need to avoid the north side of tall hedges or woodland s to avoid loss of seed in this way.

The plots are rotated around the farm, so this year it will be sited in a different place. The unharvested headland will be near woodland rather than hedge. Having observed it this winter, I now wonder if it will be as popular without the hedge for the birds to use as a base to feed from. Otherwise I am very happy with the option as it stands. It fits in well with our system and delivers what we wanted for wildlife.

I found the options very easy to manage. It needs an extra operation in March to create the cultivated margin but nothing onerous.

I do what it takes to make the margin work in terms of balancing wildlife benefits with weed control. Some years it takes more, sometimes less. Although I haven’t done the detailed costings, I’m confident it balances out overall and does not leave me out of pocket.

The hedge alongside the option was teeming with yellowhammers, corn buntings, reed buntings and sparrows for as long as there was seed left in the headland. There were still birds using it when I came to cultivate it in March. There are breeding turtle doves on the farm, which I hope would benefit from the early seed source the cultivated margin provides. I saw loads of starlings and blackbirds rummaging around in spring and summer, which must show how many insects there are in there.

You can also see areas where partridge have used the fallow as a sunbathing/dusting area.

It adds another feature to the farm that wouldn’t usually be there. It’s not common to find fallow areas on heavy land, so this adds to the diversity of our system.

It’s a simple straightforward combination option that has worked well for me in my farming system.

Ian Campbell took over the 170ha holding around 1990. Previously his father had managed the farm, having moved to Caithness in 1951. Since then, Ian has built up a herd of prize winning livestock, and won many rosettes for his Beef Shorthorn cattle as well as Lleyn and Texel sheep at a county level and further afield.

Aims:

Caithness holds nationally important populations of breeding waders such as lapwings, curlews, redshanks and snipe as well as twite, which have suffered from long-term declines in their breeding numbers across the UK. It is also a stronghold for the biodiversity action plan (BAP) priority species great yellow bumblebee which was previously widespread in the UK but is now one of our rarest native bumblebees. Populations of all these species have been maintained in Caithness thanks to high nature value farming systems. Todholes Farm is a typical example of these systems, which has been further enhanced through the tailoring of management for the benefit of key species.

The majority of the farm is grazed, with smaller areas of arable for livestock feed: spring barley for cattle feed, fodder rape for fattening lambs, and fodder turnips for wintering sheep.

Much of the farm is directly adjacent to the River Thurso, a Special Area of Conservation for Atlantic Salmon and a Site of Special Scientific Interest for a number of nationally rare or scarce plants.

Management:

Management advice was provided by the RSPB Scotland, specifically in relation to breeding waders and seed eating birds. Scottish Natural Heritage advised on management relating to designated sections of the site, and the Bumblebee Conservation Trust advised on the provision of pollen and nectar sources.

Of the options available for the non-designated parts of the farm, Ian opted for:

– Open Grazed Grassland for Wildlife (29ha)

– Management of Habitat mosaics (16ha)

– Management of Species Rich Grassland (4.5ha)

Open Grazed Grassland for Wildlife

Stock are excluded for six consecutive weeks between 15th March and 15th June, to restrict trampling of nests of waders such as lapwing and curlew. This could have had a high impact on the farm business, particularly in late spring, so the timing of the exclusions are calculated to allow two areas to be shut off while a third is opened up. This works well and has little detrimental impact on the economics of the business.

Management of Habitat Mosaics

This is an area of bog and heath with scattered rush and gorse bushes. Grazing is kept low between May to August to avoid trampling of wader nests and at the same time to avoid the vegetation becoming too rank.

Species Rich Grassland

Three areas of species rich grassland are managed on the farm. Wildflowers were relatively abundant right into early September, providing a much-needed late nectar source to bumblebees. In particular, the nationally rare great yellow bumblebee has been found on Todholes, and lapwings and curlews nest on the other areas of species rich grasslands.

There are some small areas of wetland within the habitat mosaics field, which were of concern to Ian in case they presented a problem with liver fluke. These areas were fenced off to address this. However, to prevent them from becoming rank, the wetlands still need to be grazed and cattle have access to them through the autumn/winter months. The cattle are dosed for fluke three times annually and Ian has not noticed any detrimental effect of fluke on his livestock as a result of grazing in these wetland areas.

Achievements:

It is still early days for the created species rich area and other taller more nutrient-loving species such as thistle currently dominate the field. Species that we hope will flourish here include vetches (e.g. tufted vetch and meadow vetchling), bird’s-foot trefoil and flag iris. Livestock are excluded between April and August but by the time the field is opened up again, the level of grazing is not sufficient to control the ‘weeds’. The grazing plan will be adjusted over time e.g. to increase grazing or allow for cutting so that a greater variety of plants can flourish. Some scarification and reseeding may also take place.

I am a County Council tenant farmer. I grow winter wheat, beet, rape, and potatoes. I used to grow plots of miscanthus as game cover, which were shot by a small shooting syndicate. No birds were released and the shoot relied on attracting ‘wild’ pheasants. My wife runs a riding school on the farm, so there are several acres of horse paddocks. My land is a mixture of ‘Grade 1’ sandy loam and tougher areas. I make the best use of areas that are difficult to farm by providing for wildlife, like awkward corners and areas of heavier land.

Aims:

I live in a really important area for farmland birds – the Fens is one of only a handful of places where grey partridges, corn buntings, yellow wagtails, tree sparrows, lapwings and turtle doves can be found together. There are also a wealth of beneficial insect and arable plants that form the base of the food chain.

Management:

I believe sensitive hedge and ditch management – including buffering – are part of good farm management, and something we should all do as a matter of course. The new challenges for me were learning about nectar flower mixes and wild bird seed mixes.

Nectar flower mix

I used a grass-free mix – they’re a bit more expensive but on these fertile soils, grass comes to dominate very quickly. The vigorous cultivars used in the mix in it ensure it stands a good chance of out-competing any problem plants in the seed bank.

Once the soil was prepared by ploughing and rotaring, I broadcast the seed on using a slug pellet spreader. This only worked because I had wider strips – it spreads it quite a long way so if they had been any narrower I would have been wasting seed.

I then rolled the plots. Small flower seeds like these do better if they are near the surface, as long as they have good contact with warm soil. I went for an autumn establishment, to give the seed a chance to germinate and get away before winter set in.

The mix had phacelia in it which did very well and helped to supress weed growth. Some of the plots I only needed to cut once to control weeds in Year 1. I can see there is less phacelia this year, and the clovers, vetches and trefoils are starting to come into their own. It looked fantastic last year, but I’m looking forward to even better display of colours this year.

Other plots I have elsewhere on the farm needed more cutting. I think a lot depends on the weed burden in the location you choose. I had to cut one of the plots three times to control the charlock, but it’s fine now it’s established properly. I don’t have a way of removing the cuttings so I make sure they’re chopped up fine when I cut the mix to prevent a mulch forming.

Wild Bird Seed mix

I have four blocks containing wheat, kale, quinoa, red and white millet, buckwheat, and sunflowers. My agreement started in January 2012 – anyone trying to get things started in 2012 will remember the almost complete absence of sunshine!

I tried to establish my wild bird seed mixes by drilling in the spring with very limited success. It didn’t help that they were sited on old miscanthus plots. I had treated it with herbicide but it had failed to kill it completely. By the time the seed mix germinated, there was already substantial miscanthus regrowth which effectively swamped the mix.

I was philosophical about it – from a wildlife point of view they weren’t a complete fail because there were still the chance for arable plants to grow there and encourage insects. They would set a bit of seed and provide winter food for things like skylarks and linnets. I also broadcast a couple of kg of mustard onto each plot area in July – it’s fast-growing and I hoped it might set seed in time to provide at least some winter food.

I re-drilled the wild bird seed mixes in spring 2013 and this time they’ve been a success. It shows what a massive difference the weather can make, even if you’re following the instructions and doing everything right.

I’ve also become aware of the plight of the turtle dove – we’ve lost 93% of them! There is now a mix available which contains early-flowering varieties of things like vetches and clovers, as well as some fumitory, which should provide a food source for them when they arrive here in late spring after migrating from Africa. There was a turtle dove here this summer, so I’m going to establish an acre or so this autumn, near to where I saw it.

Now I have my two-year mixes established and thriving, I can start to turn them into staggered plots. The kale seems to be doing well, so next spring I’ll re-establish half of each plot with the same mix again, so there is always some in its first year, full of cereals and millet, and some in its second year, with plenty of seeding kale.

Achievements:

The failed attempts at establishing bird cover were frustrating but luckily this is not the most expensive mix.

Even though I rent my land, I am able to make my environmental management stack up by using my worst land. It’s important we farmers all do our bit to look after the countryside.

I was amazed how well the nectar flower mixes did, and how alive with insects they were this summer.

I think the real benefits from the wild bird seed mixes will become apparent this winter, now they’ve worked. Anything’s got to be better than miscanthus! I’ve definitely got more sparrows around. I’m seeing small birds in the covers already, and it’s only October. I also see more sparrowhawks and kestrels now, which I’m thrilled about because it must mean the rest of the food chain is doing OK too!

I’m a real lover of owls – we have barn and tawny owls on the farm – and they all fledged families this summer which I’m really pleased about.

Advice for other farmers

Don’t be afraid to put some nitrogen fertiliser on your bird cover. It’s a crop, after all. I used about 50kg an acre on mine.

Horsetail can be a real problem in this area and it’s started creeping in from one of my margins. I’ve discovered that it responds better to herbicide if you roll it first, to flatten it and cause some damage to it so the chemical can penetrate.

In hindsight I would have cropped my old miscanthus plots first, giving me more opportunities to kill it off properly. I wouldn’t advise trying to follow it straight away with a bird cover or a nectar mix, because if it comes back your mix will not do well.

Aims:

Towthorpe Manor Farm is a 242ha arable farm with chalk dales grazed with native breed cattle. There is a small shoot with cover crops of mustard and triticale privately funded.

Winter cropping includes oilseed rape, winter wheat, winter barley and oats for Jordans. Spring beans are also grown, and precision farming is undertaken on the farm.

This particular feature was chosen as part of a Conservation Grade agreement which requires 10% of arable land to be in wildlife friendly options. The option is sited alongside an east-facing 6m grass strip adjacent to a chalk dale and hedgerow.

Management:

Late May 2013 – Sown into stubble using a Simba Express cultivator with tines set at 10 inches into the ground to take out compaction with integral rollers behind the tines. The seed is broadcast electrically onto the cultivated surface and Cambridge rolled. A heavy flat roller is recommended to give soil seed contact on this chalk brashy land.

Establishment was slow due to dry conditions in this low rainfall area. Re-drilling was considered, but sufficient rainfall brought about a rapid improvement with 95% establishment ground cover.

Frequent topping was required in the first year to aid establishment and deal with arable weeds such as poppies, shepherds purse, creeping thistle and fat hen.

Achievements:

When sited alongside a 6m grass margin, the option enhances opportunities for over-wintering insects and also buffers the floristically-rich chalk dale. An attractive option for visitors and very attractive to butterflies particularly, with small tortoiseshell, peacock and the odd painted lady seen on the farm along with numerous Silver Y moths, bumblebees and hoverflies.

The ELS/HLS payment doesn’t cover the cost of establishment particularly if there is an establishment failure and it needs to be re-drilled. However, taken as a component of a comprehensive HLS agreement which includes payments for managing the chalk dales the HLS agreement makes an important reliable and consistent payment to the farm business.

The main benefit is the buffering of the chalk dale from potential drift or run off from the neighbouring arable operations. It also enhances the other HLS options on the farm which include floristically enhanced buffer strips

Tips for other farmers

– Only sow when conditions are right regarding soil temperature and moisture levels. Broadcast rather than sow and roll tight to gain soil/seed contact.

– Frequent topping in the first year with a flail topper but be wary of smothering with crop residue.

– Don’t let creeping thistle seed.

– Be patient and wait until year two before deciding whether establishment has been successful or not as an earlier crop of nectar mix established on the farm looked very poor in year one but now looks amazing in year two.

Aims:

To provide summer insect food and seed food over winter for seed-eating birds, particularly targeting grey partridges and tree sparrows, and to provide suitable nesting habitat for lapwings on the arable land.

Management:

Hazelmere farm (270 acres) has been in the family for over 75 years, and is leased from Chatsworth Estates. I took the decision to leave dairying five years ago, and now the business concentrates on arable, with a livery and rural skills school on site.

Wild bird seed mix plots

To provide winter food for the seed eating birds on his land, I have included several plots of wild bird seed mix which have done very well on the free-draining, limestone based soil. The mix includes phacelia, kale, quinoa, millet and triticale with a handful of sunflowers also thrown in. The wild bird seed mix is re-established every other year and the land is prepared and drilled as if it is a normal crop. I occasionally get an infestation of flea beetle on the kale so a pesticide is used. A small amount of fertiliser is added to maintain nitrogen levels. The plots where the wild bird seed mix have been established were chosen to complement the adjacent land use such as hedges and margins with recognised bird populations.

The wild bird seed mixes have worked so well, I’m looking at re-sowing only one of them this year with the possibility of adding perhaps an additional row of quinoa or millet alongside another of the plots. The kale is showing through in this second year along with a reasonable amount of fat-hen which will also provide a good seed source.

Fallow plots

I have also included rotational fallow plots - it has proved very successful in encouraging lapwings to breed on the farm and I estimate there are slightly more than 20 breeding pairs. I’ve also seen flocks of up to 80 lapwings using the plots in the late summer.

Across the farm there are 51ha left as over-wintered stubbles after a spring cereal and, on average, 10ha are then sprayed off at the end of March and left as fallow after running over them with a light disc to break up the surface.

In the autumn, as long as there is no major weed cover showing, a single run with the cultivator or a light set of discs creates a suitable till and the cereal is then drilled.

There have been some issues with sterile brome on the fallow plot. After discussion with Natural England, the plot was left fallow all year including over winter and then cleaned up with a stale seed bed with a supplementary treatment with Roundup before being sown with another spring cereal this year.

Flower-rich margins

I’m currently looking at adding some additional floristically enhanced margins for grey partridge around some fields to increase foraging and breeding habitat. This will also benefit a wide range of insects, and other birds on the farm which feed their chicks on insects.

The birds on the farm were surveyed in 2009 as part of the RSPB’s Volunteer & Farmer Alliance scheme. The survey picked up nine red list species of high conservation concern, including grey partridges and lapwings, and thirteen bird species of medium conservation concern, including bullfinches and reed buntings.

Of these, the density of lapwings recorded on the farm during the summer and autumn are testament to the benefits of fallow plots to this species with the number of lapwings breeding on the farm having increased since the adoption of this measure. It also provides a winter food source for those lapwings which over-winter in the area.

A large flock of around thirty tree sparrows were seen feeding on one block of wild bird seed mix and two of the blocks were sheltering coveys of grey partridge last autumn.

The wild bird seed mix plots are also magnets for hundreds of invertebrates including bees and butterflies.

The floristically enhanced margins will plug the final gap in farmland bird requirements by ensuring that there are insect-rich foraging areas.

Aims:

The aim was to create an insect-rich foraging habitat for farmland birds. I farm on fertile peat soils, so effective control of pernicious weeds is essential.

Management:

I started using this option 5 years ago. For the first four years, I cultivated annually in the spring. Blackgrass is hit by spring cultivations and the seed is short-lived, so successive spring cultivations along with lack of fertiliser have virtually eliminated it.

This year, I applied a herbicide in March to control grass weeds instead of cultivating. This has the advantages of providing seed food for birds through the ‘hungry gap’ (January – April inclusive), providing pollen and nectar throughout the spring, and I think that the plant diversity has increased as a result. It has taken me 4 or 5 years to get the margins to produce food in the lean time of year, because of the need for annual spring cultivations to get on top of the blackgrass. If someone has no blackgrass then an early spring food source can be produced in year two or three. In future, I may only cultivate in alternate years and use herbicide in the 2nd year.

Creeping thistle is a major concern with potatoes and sugar beet in the rotation, so I spot spray thistles with a knapsack sprayer. This has reduced the thistle numbers over time. I had to spot-spray some areas to remove couch and field bindweed with a boom sprayer at harvest time, when the annuals were dormant.

Achievements:

The floristic diversity of these margins is unparalleled by any other habitat on the farm. Plant species richness per margin varies from 55 to 70 species, almost an order of magnitude greater than my wild flower margins, and even more impressive compared with my grass margins, ditch banks and hedgerows.

In years when the spring cultivation is not required, it delivers pollen and nectar throughout the year as well as any sown mixture. Red dead-nettle feeds bumblebees in March and a progression of a wide range of flowers take over from then onwards. When spring cultivation is undertaken, these margins provide pollen and nectar from June onwards.

The full range of farmland birds forage for insects in these margins: grey partridges, linnets, reed buntings, corn buntings and even quail. Turtle doves are scarce on the farm now: common sense suggests that they should use them as a source of seed food too, but I have not been able to witness this. I now have ten times the density of linnets feeding on this farm compared with neighbouring farms. I put this down to the availability of seeds in these margins. I think that the accessibility to the ground in combination with the abundance of insects (and seeds in the case of linnets) provides the ideal conditions for foraging birds.

The combination of spring cultivations, use of selective herbicide and spot-spraying have effectively controlled all of the noxious weed problems. Uncropped cultivated margins are more work than grass margins, but less than some of the other arable options, such as wild bird seed mixtures.

Aims:

The aim was to boost insect food for farmland birds through the summer. The farm is on peat soils in the Lincolnshire Fens.

Management:

The first margins were established 15 years ago. A wild flower and grass mix was purchased from Emorsgate Seeds. The seed mixture was 20% wild flowers and 80% fine grasses. Wildflowers included yarrow, common knapweed, wild carrot, lady’s bedstraw, self-heal, meadow buttercup, common sorrel and red campion. In addition, some flowering plants that were not in the original seed mix have established from the seed bank.

We cut them for hay in early August, as we have a market for it. Cutting and removing is important to reduce the fertility and maintain the floristic diversity. In addition, I have applied a herbicide in the spring whenever I have considered that coarse grasses were becoming a problem in the previous summer. One margin was sprayed this year for the first time in 7 years. I also pull ragwort and spot-spray thistles with a knapsack sprayer.

Achievements:

Although the floristic diversity of the original mix has declined, they remain as diverse flower margins absolutely humming with insect life. Knapweed has not survived in some of the mixtures on the acid soils. Our 15-year-old margin still retains mallow, sorrel, wild carrot, buttercup, lady’s bedstraw and self-heal. Yarrow has remained particularly dominant. In one margin, we incorporated cowslip and betony, but these did not appear in the sward until 5 years and 8 years after sowing, respectively.

The range of birds that use them has disappointed me. They are used by skylarks, meadow pipits and linnets (which take the sorrel seeds), but apparently not by my corn buntings and other small passerines. It may be that they are too dense for them. As a result, I have tried uncropped cultivated margins as an alternative means of providing an insect-rich foraging habitat for birds.

I feel that they are a significantly better option for wildlife than the standard grass margins.